Wolverines win regional opener
MALVERN - A suffocating defensive effort and a clutch shot from Natalie Goodman to close the third quarter helped lift East Mills to a 43-29 victory over Southwest Valley in the opening round of Class 1A, Region 7 girls basketball Thursday in Malvern.
Goodman’s three-pointer – her only bucket of the game – in the waning seconds of the third quarter put the Wolverines ahead 31-21 heading into the final quarter. Momentum wise, it was huge, said East Mills coach Blair Holman.
“She’s hit big shots for us all year and that was a big one,” he said. “Obviously its only a seven point lead to 10 but in your mind, it’s a big difference. It was a huge shot for us.”
The Wolverines’ defense was just as huge.
All night long their 1-2-2 zone clogged up the lane and forced ill-advised jump shots.
Holman’s preference is for man-to-man defense but the zone did it’s job.
“We ran man (to man defense) for a lot of the year and here recently we’ve been going to a 1-2-2 (zone defense),” Holman said. “It seems we have enough quickness, I feel like, at all five positions to cover up their shooters. We lost them a few times tonight but for the most part, defensively we were pretty good. And we rebounded on the defensive end which was key for us.”
East Mills limited the Timberwolves to 1-of-15 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Alex Knop scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed five rebounds for East Mills.
Miah Urban overcame a bloody nose to score 14 points.
The Wolverines (14-6) advanced to meet Council Bluffs St. Albert (10-11) in last night’s regional second round. Results of that game were not available at press time.
Sidney 42,
East Mills 40 OT
Maddy Duncan scored a game-high 29 points to help Sidney claim the Corner Conference regular season championship with a 42-40 victory over East Mills in overtime last Tuesday.
The Wolverines (13-6 overall, 5-5 in the conference) led 27-25 heading into the final quarter where Sidney out-scored them 11-9 to force the extra frame.
“We felt like we were in control most of the game,” said East Mills coach Blair Holman. “W never had a big lead, but felt good about it. The girls executed our defensive game plan very well. We forced them to take the shot that we were comfortable with them taking. Duncan made some tough shots that kept them in the game.”
Duncan scored 29 but it came on 10-of-2 shooting. She was 5-of-17 from behind the arc. She was the only cowgirl to attempt more than eight shots.
Alex Knop scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Emily Williams added eight points and nine rebounds. But the Wolverines struggled to find their shooting touch, finishing 15-of-48 from the field (31.2 percent).
“Offensively, we were getting the looks that we wanted, some of them just didn’t fall and they made one more play than we did,” Holman said. “I am very pleased with the effort the girls continue to give every night and we are looking forward to regionals.”